Korea Customs hosted the 82nd WCO Policy Commission from 3 to 5 December 2019 in JW Marriott Hotel Seoul in coordination with the WCO Secretariat. 110 participants from around the world were present at the meeting including 28 Members of Policy Commission, the Secretariat and observers.
It is, indeed, noteworthy that the Policy Commission has been held in the Asia Pacific region followed by 68th Session in Japan in 2012 and 80th in India, representing the growing roles and responsibilities of the A/P region in the WCO.
The Council Chairperson, Dicksons Kateshumbwa noted the importance of working together and WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya emphasized that the key WCO tools and instruments such as Harmonized System, Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and E-Commerce Framework of Standards remain updated to meet the expectations of trading community.
Delegates had the opportunity to deal with wide-ranging agenda. They discussed policy-level issues such as Program-Budget for financial year 2020-2021, terms for posts of Secretary General and other key policy issues, at the same time as dealing with the working-level issues such as the business case for the Review of Harmonized System, final draft of Customs-FIU Cooperation Handbook, the outline of the draft Handbook on Communication at working-level, etc..
The WCO Secretariat shared the progress report of E-Commerce Package, Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP), Compliance and Enforcement Package (CEP) and Capacity Building. In particular, it highlighted the potential use of information and technology and data analytics in capacity building. Also, the WCO initiatives, ‘BACUDA’ project and ‘Regional Seminar on Data Analytics for Customs’, were introduced.
Korea Customs referred to the need to change the way WCO adapt to the changing trade environment with the growth of cross-border E-commerce. As part of efforts, it mentioned the use of blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data and available latest technologies in Customs.
On the sidelines of the Session, Members of Policy Commission had bilateral or multilateral meetings on mutual cooperative measures, Business Reengineering Projects (BPR) and other issues.
In the last day of the meeting, delegates visited Korean traditional palace, Gyeongbokgung and had cultural experiences, traditional cloth wearing and playing Korean instruments, enjoying the beauty of Korea.
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